Task 25. Make up the plans and form questions to the texts from the previous exercise.

 

Task 26. Write down the resume about two philosophers of law:

 

Philosophers of law

Sir Thomas More, 1478-1535

 

Sir Thomas More was an English statesman and writer, known for his religious stance against King Henry VIII that cost him his life. More was born in London and was educated at one of London’s best schools. He later spent two years in the University of Oxford, mastering Latin and undergoing a thorough drilling in formal logic.

Among his important thoughts was that the reasons for crime were to be found in economic and social conditions. He believed that if people lived in a more just and humane society they would behave better. He also thought that punishment should be sensible and that people found guilty should be made to work for the good of the community. His views were far ahead of the time, so that it was only in later centuries that his book Utopia was really understood.

More’s Utopia describes a pagan and communist city-state in which the institutions and policies are entirely governed by reason. The order and dignity of such a state provided a notable contrast with the unreasonable policy of Christian Europe, divided by self-interest and greed for power and riches, which More described in Book 1, written in England in 1516. Among the topics discussed by More in Utopia were penology, state-controlled education, religious pluralism, divorce, euthanasia, and women’s rights. The resulting demonstration of his learning, invention, and wit established his reputation as one of the foremost Humanists. Soon translated into most European languages, Utopia became the ancestor of a new literary genre, the Utopian romance.

More’s History of King Richard III, written in Latin and in English between about 1513 and 1518, is the first masterpiece of English historiography. Though never finished, it influenced succeeding historians. William Shakespeare is indebted to More for his portrait of the tyrant.

More attracted the attention of King Henry VIII. The King made More one of his favourites and often sought his company for philosophical conversations. More became Lord Chancellor in 1529; he was the first layman to hold the post. His fortunes changed, however, he refused to support Henry’s request for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon.

As a strict Roman Catholic he disapproved of Henry VIII’s attempt to break away from the church in Rome and set up his own Church of England. For failing to accept Henry as the head of the English church he was tried for treason in 1535 and beheaded at the Tower of London. He was made a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.

 

John Locke, 1632-1704

 

The ideas and writing of the seventeenth-century English philosopher John Locke deeply influenced the political outlook of the American colonists. Locke spelled out his political ideas in Two Treatises on Civil Government, first published in 1690. His writings were widely read and discussed in both Europe and America. Locke’s ideas seemed to fit the American colonial experience. Colonial leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison regarded these ideas as political truth. Locke’s ideas became so influential that they have been called the “textbook of the American Revolution”.

Locke reasoned that all people were born free, equal, and independent. They possessed natural rights to life, liberty, and property at the time they lived in a state of nature, before governments were formed. People contracted among themselves to form governments to protect their natural rights. Locke argued that if a government failed to protect these natural rights, the people could change that government. The people had not agreed to be governed by tyrants who threatened their rights but by rulers who defended their rights.

Locke’s ideas were revolutionary in an age when monarchs still claimed they had God-given absolute powers. Locke denied that people were born with an obligation to obey their rulers. Rather, in his Second Treatise on Civil Government, Locke insisted that freedom of people under government is to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by the legislative power vested in it.

Government, then, was legitimate only as long as people continued to consent to it. Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, written nearly a century after Locke, reflected Locke’s revolutionary ideas.

Just for fun A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer. *** “You seem to be in some distress,” said the judge to the witness. “Is anything wrong?” “Well, your Honour,” said the witness, “I swore to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, but every time I try, some lawyer objects!” *** A man had been convicted of theft on circumstantial evidence. When the case was sent for appeal, he revealed to his lawyer that he had been in prison at the time of the crime committed. “Good Heavens, man!” said the lawyer. “Why on earth didn’t you reveal that fact at the trial?” “Well,” said the man, “I thought it might prejudice the jury against me.” *** A man accused of stealing a watch was acquitted on insufficient evidence. Outside the courtroom he approached his lawyer and said, “What does that mean – acquitted?” “It means,” said the lawyer, “that the court has found you innocent. You are free to go.” “Does it mean I can keep the watch?” asked the client. *** First juror: “We shouldn’t be here very long. One look at those two fellows convinces me that they are guilty.” Second juror: “Not so loud, you fool! That’s counsel for the prosecution and counsel for the defense!”

 

LEGAL PROFESSION IN THE USA

 

Warming-up:

In your country, are there different kinds of lawyers? If so, define them.

Can you describe the way lawyers become qualified to practice law in Ukraine?

Can you name all functions of Ukrainian lawyer?

Vocabulary notes:

attorney	аторней, уповноважений, юрист, адвокат
trial court adjunct	помічник суду першої інстанції
grist	зерно, кількість
mill	млин
bench	суд, судді, склад суду, судова присутність
promotional pattern	система просування по службі
litigator	спеціаліст, який проводить судовий процес
office lawyer	судовий виконавець
counsel	адвокат, який бере участь у справі
promise	договірний обов’язок
litigant	сторона судового процесу
adversary	протилежна сторона судового процесу
the American Bar Association	Американська асоціація адвокатів
legislature	законодавча влада
affiliate	входити до складу, приєднувати(ся)
eligible	той, який має право
reciprocity	взаємність

JUDGES IN THE USA

 

The multitudinous judicial systems in the United States are operated by a variety of persons. Judges are at the core of any court system. They are the decision makers, the key officials around whom all else is arranged. However, there is a vast supporting cast. Most intimately connected with the judges are those who assist them in the process of deciding issues and cases: law clerks, staff attorneys, and trial court adjuncts. Beyond these are the clerical and administrative personnel: secretaries, clerks of court and their staffs, judicial educators, and court administrators. Outside the court systems are numerous organizations whose functions are to assist the courts in various ways. Finally, there are the lawyers who present cases, thus supplying the grist for the judicial mill.

Because American judges sit on courts of widely varying types and come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, it is difficult to generalize about them. Two generalizations, however, are possible. First, judges in the United States initially come to the bench from other lines of legal work and after a substantial number of years of professional experience. Second, once on the bench they do not, in the main, follow a promotional pattern through the ranks of the judiciary.

Compared to the English and civil-law systems of judicial recruitment and promotion, the methods used in the United States are quite varied. These procedures generally lack means of assuring professional quality. Moreover, the American judges’ backgrounds are much more diverse than those of the English and civil-law judges. With the relatively minor exception of some lay judges on state courts of limited jurisdiction, all American judges have studied law and been licensed to practice law.

Although most judges have actually practiced law, the nature of that practice can be quite varied. Many judges have been litigators, but some have been office lawyers or counsel to organizations such as corporations or private associations. The types of law practice that judges have experienced range from small-town general practice to specialized fields in large metropolitan firms. Numerous judges have been lawyers in government service as prosecuting attorneys or counsel to government agencies, either state or federal. Some judges are former law professors, but their number is small. Many judges have earlier been active in political affairs, often as legislators, political campaign managers, or party committee members or chairmen. Indeed, many American judges can be described as former lawyer-politicians.

Another feature of the American judiciary that sharply distinguishes it from that of civil-law countries and other common-law countries is that persons can enter the judicial system at any level. A lawyer can initially become a judge on the highest court, the lowest court, or any in between. There is no system or pattern about this. In other words, a lawyer who has never been a judge can become a judge on a court of last resort or an intermediate appellate court or trial court, in either a state or the federal system. Lawyers who come on the bench at the trial or intermediate appellate levels have no real promise of moving to a higher court, although some may have hopes in that regard. Some judges do move up, but most spend their entire judicial careers on the same court. There is no system of promotion and no substantial sentiment among American lawyers, judges, or politicians that such a system would be desirable.

LAWYERS

It is a longstanding tradition in the Anglo-American legal world that anyone can represent himself in court. But contemporary law and judicial procedure are so complicated that it is unrealistic for a litigant to represent himself in any but the simplest matters. Lawyers are essential to ensure the full and fair presentation of cases. American courts, being passive agencies in the common-law tradition, depend on lawyers to present the litigants’ positions and to develop the evidence and the legal arguments. Under the adversary system it is each lawyer’s obligation to present his client’s case to the court vigorously and completely. Lawyers are thus an integral part of the machinery of justice.

In the United States admission to the practice of law and the governance of the legal profession are matters of state concern. One can speak accurately, for example, of “the Virginia bar” or “the Texas bar” or “the Illinois bar”, meaning the lawyers in each of those states who have licensed by those states. There is no national or federal authority to admit persons to the legal profession. The entity known as the American Bar Association is a private, voluntary, nationwide organization of some 370,000 lawyers from all states; it is the largest organization of lawyers in the country, although there are many other private bar associations, often based on areas of legal specialization.

In each state the requirements for admission to the bar are set by the Supreme Court or the legislature or the two acting together. Typically graduation from an accredited law school is required; there are more than 170 such schools in the United States, almost all affiliated with universities. Law school requires a three-year course of study after a student has attended college for four years and received a bachelor’s degree. Law school graduates are awarded the degree of Juris Doctor (J.D.). They are then eligible to take a state bar examination, a written examination lasting two or three days. These examinations are usually administered by a body of lawyers, known as bar examiners, acting under the authority of the state’s Supreme Court. Applicants who pass the bar examination and who also meet the requisite standards of character are admitted into the bar by that court.

Within the legal profession there is no formal division; there are no barristers or solicitors. Anyone admitted to the bar in a state is legally authorized to engage in any kind of legal practice in that state. As a practical matter, there is an increasing degree of specialization among lawyers. Typical areas of specialization are litigation, taxation, labor law, patent law, family law, trusts and estates, and various branches of administrative law.

A lawyer admitted to one state’s bar can practice in another state only if he gets admitted in that state or that state recognizes the original state’s admission. This kind of reciprocity is accorded in some states but not in all.

Task 1. Find the corresponding Ukrainian equivalents of the following English ones:

the multitudinous judicial systems, trial court adjuncts, to assist in the process of deciding issues and cases, to supply the grist for the judicial mill, to come to the bench from other lines of legal work, to follow a promotional pattern through the ranks of the judiciary, litigators, to enter the judicial system at any level, a court of last resort, to ensure the full and fair presentation of cases, to present the litigants’ positions, to develop the evidence and the legal arguments, an integral part of the machinery of justice, the American Bar Association, to meet the requisite standards of character, to be admitted into the bar, to engage in any kind of legal practice.

 

Task 2. Give the English equivalents of:

колегія адвокатів, протилежна сторона судового процесу, судовий виконавець, мати право, адвокат або група адвокатів, які беруть участь у судовій справі, спеціаліст, який проводить судовий процес, аторней, найвищий суд, бути прийнятим до колегії, займатися будь-якою юридичною практикою, представляти інтереси однієї із сторін судового процесу, розкривати докази та судові аргументи.

 

Task 3. Write down the word-families of the following words:

litigator, judiciary, counsel, promotion, judge.

Task 4. Match the following adjectives with the nouns and translate the word-combinations:

legal	administrators
adversary	associations
bar	careers
judicial	system
trial court	practice
court	jurisdiction
limited	adjuncts

Task 5. Find the correct answers:

1. A person whose profession is advising others in matters of law or representing them in lawsuits is...	a court administrator
2. A person with authority to decide cases in a court of law is...	a litigator
3. An official in charge of the records of a court is...	a litigant
4. A lawyer who is responsible for bringing criminal charges against sb in a particular area or state is...	a lawyer
5. A person who takes a claim or dispute to a court of law is...	a clerk of court
6. A person who is making or defending a claim in a court of law is...	counsel
7. A lawyer or group of lawyers representing sb in a court of law is...	a district attorney
8. A person whose job is to manage and organize the court is...	judge

Task 6. Find a word or a phrase which best completes the sentence:

1. In the USA judges...

a) are drawn from the experienced practitioners – barristers.

b) have practiced law, the nature of that practice can be quite varied.

c) begin their professional careers as judges.

2. A lawyer can initially become a judge...

a) on the highest court.

b) on the lowest court.

c) on the highest court, on the lowest court, or any court in between.

3. In the USA attorney at law...

a) performs both civil and criminal legal functions for clients.

b) does not represent the clients in court.

c) is the specialist with particular skills in advocacy.

4. In the USA law school graduates...

a) must spend a similar year as pupils.

b) are awarded the degree of Juris Doctor.

c) are not necessarily qualified.

5. In the USA anyone admitted to the bar in a state...

a) is allowed to present cases in the higher courts.

b) spends much of his time preparing briefs for counsel.

c) is legally authorized to engage in any kind of legal practice in that state.

Task 7. Match the different branches of the law with the sphere of their application:

1. litigation	a) treaties and cross-border agreements
2. corporate and commercial	b) bringing lawsuits against others
3. family	c) contracts and mergers
4. environmental	d) rules applied to how a prosecution or civil action is conducted
5. employment	e) civil cases
6. private	f) pleading a case in court on behalf of a client
7. advocacy	g) divorce and marriage settlements
8. public international	h) relating to creativity, published ideas and art forms
9. intellectual property	i) equal opportunities and fair pay
10.procedural law	j) regarding industrial waste and pollution

 

Task 8. Complete the following sentences using the words in brackets:

1. (Судді) are the decision makers, the key officials around whom all else is arranged.

2. Beyond these are the clerical and administrative personnel: secretaries, (секретарі суду) and their staffs, judicial educators, and court administrators.

3. American courts depend on lawyers (представляти інтереси сторін у суді) and to develop the evidence and the legal arguments.

4. There are many other private (колегії адвокатів), often based on areas of legal specialization.

5. A lawyer who has never been a judge can become a judge (в найвищому суді) or an intermediate appellate court or trial court, in either a state or the federal system.

6. Lawyers who come on the bench at the trial or intermediate appellate levels have no real (обов’язок) of moving to a higher court.

Task 9. Answer the questions:

1. What people are involved in court cases in the US?

2. How do judges in the United States initially come to the bench?

3. Do they follow a promotional pattern through the ranks of the judiciary?

4. What methods of judicial recruitment and promotion are used in the United States?

5. Who is essential to ensure the full and fair presentation of cases?

6. What is each lawyer’s obligation?

7. Whose matters are the admission to the practice of law and the governance of the legal profession?

8. What is the American Bar Association?

9. What are the requirements for admission to the bar?

10. Is there a formal division within the legal profession in the US?

11. What are typical areas of specialization among the US lawyers?

Task 10. Study the article below and decide the following:

1. What are the names of the plaintiff and the defendant in the lawsuit?

2. What was the issue at the heart of the dispute?

3. What were the claims of both parties?

4. How did the Random House editor describe the manuscript?

5. How did Joan Collins’ attorney build up the defense?

6. What was the jury’s verdict?